Optimizing EHRs a Key to Physician Productivity

Too often, physicians are doing work that non-physicians can do, which means the doctors are not working up to their license, says Simeon Schwartz, M.D., president of 10-site WESTMED Medical Group in Purchase, N.Y.

The electronic health records system is partly to blame, either because the EHR improperly assigns work, or captures information that is not of value, he notes. Every discrete data entered by a physician costs time. But optimizing the EHR, such as reviewing forms to determine if the correct information is being captured, can improve physician productivity.